PS The Goods® - Our Articles + Blogs

When stress is sustained over weeks rather than hours, three nutrients are depleted before most others: Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, and Vitamin D. Replenishing all three during a sustained stress sprint supports your nervous system's ability to keep functioning at the level you need it to.

During a sustained stress sprint, the brain undergoes real and measurable changes. Cortisol stays elevated longer than it should, working memory capacity decreases, and the production of mood-regulating neurotransmitters including serotonin, dopamine, and GABA comes under strain. These are not signs of weakness or burnout in the clinical sense. They are the predictable output of a nervous system that has been running at high intensity without adequate recovery, and understanding the mechanism helps you address it more precisely.

Maycember is the cultural term for the May stretch that rivals December in logistical and emotional intensity for families: end-of-year performances, field trips, teacher appreciation, sports finals, summer planning, and Mother's Day, all compressing into four to five weeks. For most moms, it is not a single overwhelming day. It is a sustained, multi-week stress sprint with no clear recovery window in between. That distinction, chronic versus acute stress, matters a great deal for what happens in your body during this time.

Vitamin B6 and Vitamin B12 are two of the nutrients most consistently depleted under chronic stress. Both are required cofactors for the synthesis of serotonin, dopamine, and GABA, the neurotransmitters most directly involved in mood, focus, and emotional resilience. Learn more - and what you can do about it. 

The research on ashwagandha and stress is more substantial than most adaptogens, and the signal is consistent: standardized ashwagandha root extract, particularly the KSM-66 form, is associated with meaningful reductions in perceived stress and anxiety in adults with chronic stress when taken daily for eight or more weeks. The mechanism involves the HPA axis, the same system that governs cortisol production. Let's look at the research.

Coffee does stimulate cortisol release, but the degree to which this matters for most women is more nuanced than the headlines suggest. Caffeine activates the HPA axis and can raise cortisol temporarily, but habitual coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to this effect over time. The more meaningful cortisol variable for most women is not the morning cup. It is the timing, the chronic stress load, and what the rest of the day looks like.